Monday, September 30, 2013

I saw this post in quite a few places, and fell in love with the waterfall look. I started reading through her blog, www.thenailasaurus.com, to find out she's in love with waterfalls too, and even made this tutorial. I didn't follow it to the tee (I didn't use the right brush), but I just had to use my new China Glaze Cosmic Dust today and I thought grey/black/white tones would be GORGEOUS over it. And I was right. But it did need a pop of color, so I added purple (based on my ABF's preference). And man oh man I'm in love! (with the mani...)

Obviously, I need some practice, but I loooove this!!! The way the holo is grey until the light hits it, it works perfectly! When the holo, y'know, holos, it's just brilliant. In certain lights the purple looks like another grey, and it all is just perfect :)

Saturday, September 28, 2013

So Sally's was having another sale, and OF COURSE I had to get in on it. This purchase was my first bottle of China Glaze! I got Cosmic Dust, which is a medium grey holo.

And I decided to compare it to Born Pretty's Hologram Effect #7:

Coat 1

Hologram Effect #7Cosmic Dust

Coat 2

Hologram Effect #7Cosmic Dust

Cosmic Dust is very opaque, only needs 1-2 coats. As you can see, after two coats, you can't see the difference between the black bottom coat and the no bottom coat. Hologram Effect #7 is very sheer, and could maybe be a topcoat glitter for a mani.

Hologram Effect #7 is a little more of a vivid holo, and a little chunkier. It also has a bit of a sage green color in it after it dries, whereas Cosmic Dust is just a straight dark silver.

Both of these will have its use, and they are definitely nothing alike. I was just curious what the difference would be. Turns out it's like night and day and I'm okay with that :)

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

I found a princess! Cinderella is a wonderful baby blue with pink and silver microshimmer. It's a bit thin and took me four coats. I considered doing it over another pale blue, but I'd already done two coats by the time I thought about it... I love it, though. It dries fast, it isn't streaky, and it's just really great to work with :)

OH! I hit 5000k views today! Thank you guys! It's so great to see that I'm getting somewhere... I've been told it's unhealthy to talk to yourself hahaha

So I've decided to switch up the shape of my nails, a la Christina at Let Them Have Polish. My reason is different though. My nails just keep chipping at the corners, so to prevent that this is what's happening, the corners come off. I'm sure I'll get used to it... eventually.

So I have swatches tonight! I remembered to do those! Holy cow!

I could NOT capture the pink shimmer, this was as close as I was getting.

I chose to stamp with Sinful Colors Fusion Neon because when you DO see the pink shimmer, they match. Also, it's opaque. I really like it. Also, this is the first time I've done these fingers for the accents instead of the middle and ring fingers. Still getting used to it :)

Sunday, September 22, 2013

I'm getting a niece! My sister Jacq and her husband recently found out they're having a little girl, and I'm soooo excited for them! Congrats, mi famiglia!
So I used this opportunity to use a lot of pink, and to use some stamps I've had that I've wanted to use for a while :)

There was black crap coming from weird places. A couple of my nails have black smudges, and IDK where it's coming from...Stamping plate by GALS, GA36

Pinkie: Single bow, Stamp. Ring: Saran wrap with three shades of pink, with a rhinestone. Middle: Stamp of many bows. Pointer: Half-moon with dots. Thumb (not pictured): Gradient of three pinks.

Stamp plate by GALS, GA7

Saran Wrap, three layers, pink rhinestone.

I used five different colors for these nails.
Base for all five: L'Oreal Penthouse Pink.
Pointer: Sinful Colors Glass Pink, Daredevil, and Rue Beaute (Glow In The Dark) Pink
Middle and Pinkie: Sinful Colors Fusion Neon
Ring: Sinful Colors Fusion Neon, Rue Beaute (Glow In The Dark) Pink
Thumb: Rue Beaute (Glow In The Dark) Pink, Sinful Colors Fusion Neon.
All are topped with Seche Vite.
Congrats again to my sister and brother-in-law! I love you guys, and can't wait to meet my niece, Makenna Jr.!

Thursday, September 19, 2013

...But the moment I saw this polish, I fell in love with it. I went back about four hours later and bought it. I honestly don't have any clue what I'm going to do with it, but it's sooooo pretty! I'm already really excited for Halloween, and this just added to it.

Now, if only we can get the exact same thing, but in red or blue....

This is the new Black Magic from Sinful Colors' Halloween 2013, and boy, it worked it's magic on me! It's got black and silver micro glitters and a larger orange.

I put this over Sinful Colors' Black on Black, and with that I only needed one coat. The tint is very transparent, and would have needed several layers to get opacity. The formula is wonderful, the glitters lay flat, and it's actually pretty easy to come off. I'm excited to get a good look at the other Halloween polishes!

Sunday, September 8, 2013

No, seriously. I did these at my desk. I took the pics on my lunch break. I had these colors in my purse (Who DOESN'T keep random nail polish on their person at all times? Oh. Just me, then? Gotcha.), and so ran with what I had.

Mind the horrible cleanup job, I don't have a brush at work.

I honestly wasn't expecting these colors to go together as well as they do.

I used Essie Bikini So Teeny and Wet'N'Wild Lava Brew. The Bikini So Teeny is a lot more blue and less purple than in these pics, thanks to my <sarcasm> wonderful </sarcasm> phone's camera.

Bikini So Teeny is a definite two-coater, maybe three if you weren't paying 100% attention (like if you were at work...). The application is great, though.

Lava Brew is really dependent on what type of lighting you're in. In the light of the lamp I'm typing by, it's a beautiful rose color. Under the florescent at work, it's a soft pink or gold. I'm in love :)